Sidetable and Ceramic Table Tray

This project is my magnum opus for MAT111PF this is my Moby Dick... my white whale... The side table was more of a backup for this project in case everything went wrong with the slipcasting. The slipcasting however is the main show.

Plaster

Water

3D Printer

Laser Cutter

1/4 inch wood

PLA Filament

Wood Oil

Polyurethane

120 Grit Sandpaper

220 Grit Sandpaper

Sanding Block

Measuring Scale

Bucket's

Drill Mixer

I based my design heavily on my lightbulb. Using feedback from Devon that a circular design would not be for the best I made sure to use a hexagon to make it have hard edges. I knew that I wanted my design to feel slightly organic so I added curves to the legs. In order for the legs to better hold itself up I also added a piece perpendicular to it so the leg could hold itself up. I made sure to parameterize the setting as later you will see how the dimensions are not enough for the design.

Form there I used the previous methods that we learned during the press fit assembly project to make a manufacturing model and to use Fusion's cut to print the design. I used a kerf setting of 0.25mm. However once I printed the design I realized how small the project actually is. It's perfect though for holding up my plant in my bathroom.

The key takeaways that I had to fix on my previous design were: 1. making the design and legs bigger, 2. redesigning the bottom hexagon to better hold the legs, 3. By Devon's suggestion add a Mortise and tenon joint. The final design incorporates all of this and is much more practical as a side table. I used three 12x24 inch 1/8 inch plywood boards to cut my design.

To give it a more finished look I first sanded it with 120 grit sand paper to get ride of large impurities from the wood. To do this I used a sandblock like object to evenly sand away the impurities. Afterwards I brushed away the dust with a paintbrush to check the smoothness. Once all of the pieces were sanded with 120 grit I repeated the process again with 220 grit sand paper guaranteeing smoothness and for the wood to accept the oil.

From there I used Miniwax dark espresso one step wood oil and polyeruthane to both color the wood and to protect the wood from any scratches or water from future use. I did this by applying 3 coats of the solution on to the wood waiting for it to dry by the sun before each coat.

This was the longest part of the process and caused me the most trouble and pain. I tried just rotating the object using the move tool which failed. Then I tried using a plane at an angle but that still didn't work as it had only one angle. Then before I was going asleep in a dream I realized that I can use a plane at an angle and model at an angle and then extrude to create the object. This solved the fold at the angle problem but I still had the trouble of attaching them correctly. Everytime that I tried to join them it caused a massive empty space.

Realizing that something was fundamentally wrong for my design, I read a paper titled "The mathematics behind flat-folding origami and the Miura fold." by an unnamed student for a competition called "Ungeforskere" based in Norway. The paper went into depth about the functionality of Miura folds and reminded me of foundational principles of origami. Kawasaki's Theorem states that the sum of every other angle around that vertex must equal 180 degrees. Maekawa Theorem states that there must be either three mountain folds and one valley fold or three valley folds and one mountain fold.

With the understand of these two theorem's I was then able to understand how the Miura fold was constructed and the angles needed to construct the fold. Using some scratch paper I wrote down the folds that I would use for this model. I used both the angle at a plane and sketching at an angle to create the folds needed for the model. It perfectely lined up together without having a weird gap between the folds. I then used a rectangular pattern to finish the fold. I then used a technique presented during class to create the mold. I made a three part model the bottom part being the object and floor. The two sides being openable at the corners for easy removal using clamps. The hard part came when the model was not actually solid. To get through this Emile and Devon helped by using a shadow to trace the outline of the shape and create fake walls. While it couldn't actally have internals due to the complexity of the object I fixed this in the CAD step

During the entire fabrication process I made sure that the mold would actually fit onto my 3D printer. By using the arrange and orient tool in Bambu Studio it auto arranged and rotated the object in order for it to fit on my print bed. Before printing I made sure to wash my bed plate for proper adhesion as dust regular falls onto my plate. My prints did not come without troubles though. My first print used supports to fill the inside and support the draft angles. However the support weren't generated correctly as I needed a more liberal support amount. I changed the support to 45 degree angle and used automatic organic supports to print it the second time.

With the help of Emile I then created a plaster mold of the object.

We first clamped the object using clamps and a strap. The strap had to much pressure to the mold, so we instead using small rubberbands to make sure the mold was air tight. To further make sure the mold was successful we used B mix clay to create better angles and to make sure that the mold had no holes from the 3D print. We then added clay to the side so that plaster would not leak out.

The plaster mixture was 3/4 of a kilogram of plaster to one kilogram of water. Using a bucket and a scale we teared the weight of the bucket and added the plaster and water. When adding the plaster we sifted it using our hands to make sure that it didn't create clumps. We let the plaster absorb the water for three minutes. Afterwards we used a drill with a mixing attachment to stir the mixture for four minutes slowly as to not introduce air bubbles. Once this was done I poured the plaster into the mold making sure to slowly and evenly distribute the plaster to not introduce more air bubbles. To guarantee success I tap out more air bubbles and let the plaster solidify.

Over the weekend we let the plaster mold dry, however it was not dry enough to Slipcast so we did multiple things to have it dry. We removed the excess clay, put it in the sun, and put it right on a fan. This was still not enough though. I put the plaster mold on my 3D printer with the bed at 60 degrees Celcius. 8 Hours on the back and then overnight on the most moist part of the plaster. Though I did wake up with the fire alarm going off it may have been for unrelated reasons as the printer and plaster were fine.

Emile helped me again and used Laguna Toshi Porcelain. To make sure the mold was as smooth and dry and as possible I sanded the sharp edges and impuruties with sand paper. Then we mixed using a paddle mixer and a drill to mix the slip slowly as to not add air bubbles. Then I poured the slip into the mold slowly to make sure it was even. We then let it dry for thirty minutes checking regularly in case it needed to be topped off with more slip. We then waited overnight for the slip to fully dry.

After two hours of the slip being inside the mold, I drained the remaining slip back into the bucket and then, using a pin tool, removed the clay from the mold. Once the edges were unattached, the form came out. I used a tool to carve and a knife to cut out the edges to make it more straight. I used a paintbrush to remove any blemishes that remained on the surface. After more than a day, the form was finished. Now all that has to be done is for it to dry and become bone dry, which took two days, and then be bisque fired.

I will probably remake the side table in the future with the two main improvements being the type of wood and the wood stain used. The wood that I used was an eighth inch thick, which made the table very wobbly even with a good connection. To fix this, a quarter inch plywood would be used to make the structure more sturdy. The stain that I used was absolutely awful to work with. I used a one step against my better judgement, and it felt more like a water paint rather than a proper wood stain. I would instead use a two step finish, the first being a dark espresso wood stain and then using a spray can of polyurethane as a protector. The design of the side table, though, matches perfectly for the reading nook I have planned for it.

The Miura fold was my first time doing slip casting and was a very exciting experience. What I will take away from this experience is to make a larger mold and account more for the time it takes to make molds and to make the object. I previously thought slip casting was a thirty-minute process; I now know this is wrong. I would probably redesign the mold so that clay would not be needed for draft angles. Both so it has a cleaner look and also to remove time from post-processing. I would also make sure that the bed is flat and probably figure out a way to make the bottom of the object have sharper corners. I would also let the object rest and dry on the positive of the mold to decrease sag and retain sharpness. My end goal for this fold is to make a shade for a light that shines through the porcelain as a furniture slash art piece.